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Situated north of Brescia, Lake Iseo is one of the ultimate unsung hidden gems in Italy. Lake Iseo is probably the least known Italian lake, even though it’s home to Europe’s largest lake island. Monte Isola has 2,000 residents and no cars or traffic. Its quiet and calm atmosphere makes it a great choice if you want to experience Italy while getting away from the tourist hordes.

Between the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia is wedged Lake Iseo, the most romantic of Italian lakes. A blue and serene body of water that stretches for more than sixty kilometers, lapping the shores of Lovere, Sulzano, Sarnico and Sale Marasino… to name some of the most famous cities in the region.At Monte Isola you can find the shrine of the Madonna of Ceriola, built in the thirteenth century and located in Cure, the highest point on the island. Among the various villages on the island, Carzano is one of the best from which you can admire the island of Loreto, which lies north of Monte Isola, and is home to a neo-Gothic castle surrounded by a beautiful evergreen park. San Paolo is the other island on Lake Iseo. It stands to the south and is perfectly visible from Sensole, which can be reached via the coastal road that starts in Peschiera Maraglio.

Monte Isola towers from the south end of Lake Iseo, making it easily the lake's most intriguing feature. It's Europe's largest lake island, at 4.28 sq km, and today remains dotted with fishing villages.

At the end of the Val Camonica, the Oglio wedges itself in the mountains and leaves its waters to relax before resuming its journey: here is Lake Iseo also called Sebino, one of the largest in Italy. In the middle of its basin is Monte Isola, which seems to emerge from the lake with its green sides on which small villages are nestled.

The island, located in Lake Iseo, in the province of Brescia, is the largest among the Italian lacustrine islands and the only one to be autonomous municipality: Monte Isola or Montisola. It is the most important island in terms of height: the highest point reaches 600 meters above sea level.On the top of the mountain is the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Ceriola. Until 1928, the island was administered by two different municipalities: Siviano and Peschiera Maraglio. The following year they joined and formed the new municipality of Monte Isola or even Montisola. To the south and north, there are two islets: those of San Paolo and that of Loreto, forming with the much larger Monte Isola, a small archipelago kept in the waters of Sebino.

Monte Isola is a green mountain emerging at the centre of Iseo Lake. In every season special, wonderful and suggestive landscape makes this island of almost 5 km2 (450 hectares) a real Italian pearl. In the island there are eleven villages; the connections with the Brescian shore of the lake take place between Sulzano - Peschiera and Sale M. - Carzano.Monte Isola has always been a special place for the artisan production of boats and nets and has gained the title of “Presidio Slow Food” thanks to the millenary tradition linked with the conservation of the “lake sardine”. Other specialties are extra virgin olive oil and salami.